During regular trading, the market rose despite an unexpected drop in December U.S. retail sales and an increase in new jobless claims last week that topped estimates.

The market was able to shrug off the data because as long as news is bad, government stimulus will keep coming, said Doug Roberts, chief investment strategist at ChannelCapitalResearch.com in Shrewsbury, New Jersey.

In the financial sector, the KBW bank index was up 1.6 percent, led mainly by regional and mid-size banks. Comerica Inc jumped 2.9 percent to $34.13 after brokerage Raymond James upgraded its stock.

Bank shares were in the spotlight after U.S. President Barack Obama on Thursday proposed a fee to make big banks repay taxpayers for bailouts.

The sector had fallen earlier in the week on speculation about the fee.

On the New York Stock Exchange nearly 890 million shares changed hands, below last year's estimated daily average of 2.18 billion. On the Nasdaq, about 2.29 billion shares traded, above last year's daily average of 1.63 billion.

Advancing stocks outnumbered declining ones on the NYSE by a ratio of about 4 to 3, while on the Nasdaq nearly 7 stocks rose for every 5 that fell.